Switch-throwing device.



z. L. PIERCE & D. WARREN.

. SWITCH THROWING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED PEB.2, 1910.

1,026,602. Patented May 14, 1912.

COLUMBIA PL'ANOGRAPH C0,,WASHINGTON, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ZACHARIAH L. PIERCE AND DAVID WARREN, OF HANNA CITY, ILLINOIS; SAIDWARREN ASSIGNOR TO SAMUEL A. STEWART, 0F TRIVOLI, ILLINOIS.

SWITCH-THROWING DEVICE.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ZAOHARIAH L. PIERCE and DAVID WARREN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Hanna City, in the county of Peoria andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSwitch-Throwing Devices; and we do hereby declare that the; following isa full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention pertains to an attachment to and for throwing railroadswitches and it has for its main object to provide a device for holdingthe switch-points firmly against the rails.

Another object is to provide a device for controlling both of theswitch-points in a positive manner and yieldingly holding each of themagainst its respective rail.

The common form of structure includes a tie-bar rigidly connecting theswitch points and attached to any usual mechanism by which the pointsmay be thrown. It often happens that from-the fact that the parts of aswitch throwing device are often improperly constructed or that throughtheir continued use or by reason of carelessness in installing them, orfrom rough usage the switch-points do not lie close to the rails andallow the flanges of thewheels to pass behind them causing derailmentsand serious accidents and for this reason it is the desire to provide astructure by which such accidents .will be entirely prevented.

The appended drawing will aid the de script-ion that follows and inwhich Figurel is'a' plan of a'main track and spur-track showing a switchand our invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectionalelevation of the rails and a longitudinal section of a member locatedbetween said rails showing members extending from the latter which haveconnection with the switch-points. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionalelevation of a portion of the member referred to in Fig. 2 muchenlarged. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectiono-f a portion of the saidmember also much enlarged. Fig. 5 is a side elevation in detail of aspring and rods for controlling the switch-points.

The main rails are rep-resented by the letter A and B B indicate therails of a spurtrack.

At C C are what are termed switchpoints 1 usually connected in rigidrelation by a single rod extending transversely of the track but whichin the present case is replaced by two sections D and D one end of eachhaving attachment with one of the switch-points by means, for instance,of pins E extending through lugs F of said points and the ends of saidsections. The inner ad- 1acent ends of the rods lie close to one anotherwithin a tubular member G closed its ends but bored to admit said rodsto slide therein. Preferably the member G is open at its top andprovided with a hinged closure H and a suitable lock J if desired. Theends of the rods are threaded, each being provided with an adjusting nutK. Interposed bet-ween each nut and the end of the member G is a block Lwhich may be either inserted or fixed in said member and form a part ofit, and through which the rods extend and the office of both of which ismerely to act as limiting stops for the nuts K. The closed ends of themember G would serve in the same way but by using the blocks the nutsare preferably in position where they can be conveniently reached with awrench when the member G is constructed as shown. An expanding spiralspring M is interposed between the nuts K of the rods D D and a bar Nlies beneath the rails of the track and is connected at one end to theusual lever O of the switch-stand 0 whereby it can be moved in thedirection of its length and has the member Gr secured thereto in anysubstantial manner as, for instance, by stud-bolts P which are carriedby said member G and extend through the bar and receive nuts Q.

When assembled in the manner shown the adjacent ends of the rods D D areslightly separated but when the switchpoints are thrown by shifting thebar N one of said points 0, is moved up to and forced against the rail,Figs. 1 and 2 by the spring that is to say, in moving the said bar Ntoward the rail the member Gris carried with it and as the spring hascontrol of both rods D D by expanding against them, it must force therod D toward the rail and the point C against the rail during a port-ionof the shifting movement of said bar N. In continuing and completing themovement in obtaining a full throw of the switchlever O the rod Dthrough its nut K is moved toward the rod D thus compressing the springso as to hold the said rod D firmly in place. In throwing the points tothe right or so as to place the point C against its rail the sameoperation is repeated. To make this more clear it may be stated thatwhen the ends of the rods D D abut the switch points lie a distance offour feet and three and three quarters inches apart while the track gage(standard) is four feet, eight and one quarter inches apart; thesemeasurements being given to show the relative gages. The point C isplaced firmly against its rail and the stand 0 is then spiked in placewith the lever O in the position shown in Fig. 1. Then in order toprovide for the duties of the parts inclosed in the member G, the leverO is unlocked from its position to remove any strain thereon and toallow the rods to be free after which both the nuts K are adjusted toallow said rods to separate about one quarter of an inch which is theworking position. Now, on again moving the lever O at the stand 0 tolock it in its original position the bar N is shifted toward said standcarrying with it the member G resulting in placing all of the pressureof the spring upon the switch point C through the rod D and finallycarrying the end of the rod D against the rod D. The result through theuse of our structure is that either point is held firmly against its respective rail and there is no likelihood of any movement of the pointsaway from the rails such as would allow the flanges of the wheels topass behind them.

Ordinarily when the length of the usual bar that carries theswitch-points is too short so that the lever 0 cannot be thrown to itslimit and locked but is left open, or when said bar is too long so thatthe points are not carried firmly and entirely againstthe rail accidentsare possible. In view of this a different type of switch mechanism isdemanded and it has been brought out in the form described, since afterthe switch point has been moved up to the rail a still further -movementwill place a strong and firm pressure upon it and positively hold itagainst the rail.

We do notwish to be confined to the exact structure herein describedsince various changes may be made that will still lie within the meaningand intent of the invention, we having shown a form of mechanism thatwill accomplish the desired end; it being understood that when but oneswitch-point is used as on street railways, for instance a device ofthis nature can be used to control it in much the same way.

Since the pressure imposed upon the switch-point is a yielding one itfollows that if a car on a siding were to be thrown out upon the maintrack the flanges of the wheels will open the said point and passthrough after which the point closes automatically.

Having thus described our invention, we claim 1. The combination withthe switch points of a track, of a separate member adapted to controleach of them, one of said members adapted to place pressure upon theother, means interposed between the members and adapted to maintain ayielding pressure on both of them simultaneously in opposite directions,and mechanism to shift said means between the rails.

2. The combination with the switchpoints of a track, of separate membersconnected with each point, said members terminating adjacent to oneanother and adapted to abut at their adjacent ends, a yielding memberinterposed between said bars and adapted to place pressure upon both ofthem in opposite directions simultaneously, and means to shift the same.

3. The combination with the switch-points of a track, of separatemembers for each adapted for shifting it, said members adapted to abut,a yielding member interposed between the members and having pressureupon both simultaneously, and a member to move said yielding memberrelative to both the first said members.

4. The combination with the switch points of a track, of a member inpositive control of each said point, a spring interposedbetween andexerting a constant pressure in opposite directions upon each membersimultaneously, means to carry the spring, and a device on each memberto engage the said means.

5. The combination with the switch-point of a track, of a memberextending transversely of said track and shiftable relative thereto, adevice secured to and movable with said member, an expanding springcarried by said device, a separate rod having connection with eachswitchpoint and eX- tending into the device and controlled by saidspring.

6. The combination of the switch-point of atrack, of a member extendingtransversely of the track and shiftable relative thereto, a devicesecured thereon, a spring carried thereby, separate rods associated witheach switch-point and terminating within the de vice, each said rodhaving engagement with the spring, and means on each rod to ad'- just itrelative to the device and to each other.

7. In combination with the switch-point, of a shiftable member extendingtransversely of the track, a device secured on said member between theswitch-points, a spring carried thereby, separate rods attached to eachswitch-point and having their adjacent ends in engagement with thespring and controlled by it, and means on each rod adapted for adjustingit endwise relative to one another.

8. The combination with the switch-point of a railroad track, of aseparate rod attached at its end to each, the opposite end of the rodsterminating in close proximity to one another, a tubular member toreceive said ends, means on each rod to adjust it, means on the tubularmember to limit the movement of the rods through their adjusting means,a spring in engagement with the rods and constantly tending to separatethem and a member shiftable transversely of the track and having saidtubular member secured thereto and movable therewith.

9. The combination with the switch-points of a railroad track, ofseparate rods having operative engagement at one end with one of saidpoints, their free ends terminating between the said switch-points, atubular member having closed ends having their adjacent ends of the rodextending thereinto, means to adjust the rods relatively and relative tothe tubular member the same being limited by the closed end of saidtubular member, a yielding member within the said tubular member andhaving engagement with and constantly tending to separate said bars inan endwise direction and a shiftable member extending beneath the trackto which said tubular member is secured and with which it moves.

10. The combination with the switchpoints and the switch lever of arailroad track, of separate rods each having positive control of one endof said points, their free ends adapted to abut, a member controlled bythe switch lever, a device carried by the member to control the abuttingends of the rods and slidably engaging the same, a spring exertingpressure in opposite directions upon the rods, and means to adjust therods relative to the said device and to each other.

11. The combination with the switchpoints and the switch lever of arailroad track, of separate rods each having positive control of one endof said points, their free ends adapted to abut, a member controlled bythe switch lever, a device carried by the member to control the abuttingends of the rods and slidably engaging the same, a spring exertingpressurein opposite directions upon the rods, and means to adjust therods relative to the said device and to each other and adapted to bearupon the said device.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures, in presence of twowitnesses.

ZAGHARIAH L. PIERCE. DAVID WARREN.

Witnesses:

L. M. THURLow, A. BURKI-IARDT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

